H24-66 "Train Master": Мощный, но неудачный локомотив

The H 24 66, or Train Master, was a diesel electric railroad locomotive produced by Fairbanks Morse and its licensee, Canadian Locomotive Company. These six axle hood unit road switchers were deployed in the United States and Canada during the 1950s. They were the successor to the ultimately unsuccessful Consolidated line of cab units produced by F M and CLC in the 1950s. Each locomotive produced 2,400 horsepower (1.8 MW). In common with other F M locomotives, the Train Master units employed an opposed piston prime mover. The model rode on a pair of drop equalized three axle "Trimount" trucks giving it a C C wheel arrangement.

Touted by Fairbanks Morse as " the most useful locomotive ever built " upon its introduction in 1953, the 2,400 horsepower (1.8 MW) H 24 66 Train Master was the most powerful single engine diesel locomotive available at the time, legendary for its pulling power and rapid acceleration. No competitor offered a locomotive with an equal horsepower rating until the ALCO RSD 7 entered production in January 1954 (EMD followed suit later in July 1958 with the SD24, and GE introduced their U25C in September 1963). While some railroads saw advantages in the Train Master's greater power, the perception on the part of others that the unit had too much horsepower (coupled with the difficulties inherent in maintaining the opposed piston engine, inadequacies in the electrical system, and a higher than normal consumption of cooling water) contributed to poor marketplace acceptance of the Train Masters. Because of this, both F M and CLC ultimately left the locomotive business with both parties eventually ceasing to exist altogether.

Three different carbody variants were produced, and were differentiated as follows: Phase 1a units had their air intake louvers located in a continuous line along the top of the long hood, and a wide separating strip between the radiator fans; Phase 1b modifications were minor, consisting only of a "dip" in the long hood handrails that allowed them to better follow the profile of the side walkways; Phase 2 units boasted fewer air intake louvers, with large gaps separating them (the radiators themselves were divided by only a tiny metal strip).

Railroad Quantity Road numbers NotesFairbanks Morse (demonstrator units)4TM 1 – TM 4TM 1 & TM 2 to Wabash Railroad 550–551;TM 3 & TM 4 to Southern Pacific 4800–4801/3020–3021Canadian National Railway13000Later renumbered 2900. Canadian Pacific Railway18900Only CPR Train Master built by FM (not CLC). Delivered with a single steam generator. Remaining (twenty) CPR Train Masters (8901 8920) built by CLC (see below). Central Railroad of New Jersey132401–2413Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad12850–861 to Erie Lackawanna Railroad 1850–1861Pennsylvania Railroad98699–8707to Penn Central 6700–6708Reading Company17800–808, 860–867Southern Pacific144802–4815, 4800 4815Renumbered 3020–3035 in 1965Southern Railway (CNO&TP)56300–6304Virginian Railway2550–74to Norfolk and Western Railway 150–174Wabash Railroad6552–554, 552A–554A  Renumbered 552–557 Total 107

Railroad Quantity Road numbers NotesCanadian Pacific Railway208901–8920  CP 8905 is the only H 24 66 preserved. It can be seen at the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint Constant, Quebec, Canada. 8901 8904 originally delivered with unique wide short hoods housing dual steam generators, converted to normal hood width when SG's removed.

Only one Train Master locomotive has survived intact — former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) H 24 66 #8905 is now owned by the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, which operates the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint Constant, Quebec. Former Virginian Railway Train Masters rebuilt into slugs by the Norfolk and Western Railway survived well into Norfolk Southern service with one currently preserved at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.